Marvel Universe

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Jul 10 //
Steven Hansen
Marvel Heroes (PC) Developer: Secret Identity Studios Publisher: Gazillion Entertainment Release: TBA
Marvel Heroes runs on Unreal Engine 3, continuing the trend of free-to-play multiplayer games that look quite nice. From the isometric view, you can scroll to zoom in and out if you want to get a closer or more distanced view of the action. As I pulled the camera all the way in to check out my hero’s threads, I could appreciate the comic-book simplicity and overall cleanliness of the art direction, which feels something like a natural evolution of Marvel Ultimate Alliance’s style.
The isometric view isn’t the only parallel the game has to the recently released Diablo III. The click-to-move system is the same, holding shift precludes your character from moving while attacking, and loot drops bear randomly generated affixes. On top of that, there is a clear narrative, penned by big-time Marvel writer Brian Michael Bendis (Ultimate Spider-Man, New Avengers), which harks back to a late '70s/early '80s story about a group called the Purifiers, which seeks to wipe out all mutants -- what else is new? -- in the name of god.
While certain scenes are going to play out in motion comic form, the fact that an overarching narrative exists is going to have a palpable impact on the game, as opposed to simply being a framing mechanism for the beginning and end state. I’m told there won’t be standard “kill x amount of x enemy” quests, nor will you be inundated with useless quests. Rather, you’ll have a few sidequests with story implications in the hub areas, as well as a few you might run into when you’re gallivanting about playing superhero. I’m all for getting rid of superfluous quests and repetition.
During my hands-on time, I checked out Iron Man and Wolverine and fought alongside both Scarlet Witch and Hulk. Heroes are afforded four ability slots in addition to their left and right mouse click attacks, some of which are hero specific and some of which are general use. As you play, you build up a large repertoire of skills and find both new ones and improved versions of the ones you have.
The Wolverine I used had a great skill equipped that was a circular swipe, which was great for taking out crowds, especially when combined with his standard right click, a homing slash. While Wolverine played as the fierce bruiser you might expect, Iron Man was decidedly flashier and shared a lot of similarities to the current film interpretation; in fact, his default costume was the film version. Two particularly great skills the tin man had are an uppercut that suspends enemies long enough for a volley of projectiles to pepper them, as well as a stylish fist to the ground which has a fairly wide area of effect. Scarlet Witch’s focus was ranged attacks, while the Hulk was the expected offensive, smashing powerhouse -- he can even throw cars for big damage.
The hugely variable skill sets also help differentiate heroes when multiple people are playing the same one, as the game won’t wall off heroes other players are using. On top of that, there are a number of different costumes to choose; I found two alternates in addition to Wolverine’s starting costume just in the bit of the game I checked out.
In addition to hub areas like Professor Xavier’s School for Gifted Youngsters, Marvel Heroes has randomly generated public areas where people will be milling about, working on their own quests and the like. In these areas which are going to randomly generated daily, public events pop up that anyone can join in on. In our demo, a Sentinel showed up out of nowhere and our party took him out for some fat loot. Thankfully, whatever loot appears on your screen is your own loot; Marvel Heroes does away with a general communal loot drop, circumventing fights over who gets what and disappointment for people who might otherwise draw the short straw and get the most rubbish bit of the drop.
As our quest approached its end, we reached a private instance fight against Magneto, who was holding William Stryker hostage for his role in supporting the Purifier loons. From there, I assume the plot is going to spiral out of control in superhero comic fashion, twists abound. What I do know is that I gave Magneto quite a whooping, twice, despite playing characters that are covered in metal -- obviously that specific power of his coming into play wouldn’t be fair. That being said, the Magneto boss fight was pretty fun, as Magneto had enough moves to force to you switch up what you’re doing every once in a while.
The president of Gazillion Entertainment, the studio that’s making Marvel Heroes, is David Brevik, Blizzard North co-founder and creator of Diablo and Diablo II. They’ve got an award-winning comic writer writing the game’s story. It’s going to be free to play and what I played was pretty fun. Plus, Gazillion has a ten-year exclusivity contract with Marvel and updates to the game are going to be flowing in at a constant clip. If you like superheroes or MMOs, I don’t see any reason not to give this one a shot when it drops.

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Oct 31 //
Wesley Ruscher
Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3 (PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 [Previewed])Developer: CapcomPublisher: CapcomRelease: November 15, 2011
As Capcom's Seth Killian put it best, Rocket Raccoon is "f*cking annoying." Like a real life raccoon that is digging through your garbage cans in the middle of the night, this nocturnal mammal is all about getting in close and crossing up your opponent. He's quick, small, can hover and has myriad traps at his disposal that make him well prepared for most situations.
Rocket Raccoon's rocket skates are perhaps the best air dash in the game. Using this move will let him, on smaller characters, dash in fast and then move behind for a quick mix up. His bear claw trap -- known as the flapper -- is great for off-the-ground attacks and can be paired with his giant pendulum swing attack for a quick wall bounce. Perhaps my favorite of his moves is his teleport, which is great for a quick hop in front or behind and enemy and if done with the heavy attack actually has the little booger burrow under the ground, making him invulnerable for a ridiculous amount of time.
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Frank West is up there with Phoenix Wright when it comes to having layers of moves. Key to making the Dead Rising superstar a powerhouse is the use of his photography. At the onset of a round Frank starts at level one, with a limited move set. For example: quarter circle forward followed by strong attack has him unleashing a powerful baseball bat swing. Leveling up Frank with his photography opens up new moves -- such as a roundhouse kick and Captain America style flip -- and powers up his previous attacks like the bat, which transforms into a flaming spike infused bludgeoning stick.
Frank can also drink to help power up his photography potency. Normally it takes three photos to level up, with level four being the highest, but consuming the bottle gives the action journalist a triple shot. Drinking too much does have its side effects -- as it should -- causing him to puke his guts out and thus be left open for a quick beat down. Frank's photography also has one other useful property: it can pull opponents off the ground and be super cancelled.
While these two new characters were the main focus for the preview event, I did want to touch on my two favorite additions to UmvC3: Phoenix Wright and Vergil from Devil May Cry. The reasons I have fallen for both the characters are at the opposite end of the spectrum, but both were incredibly fun to play. Vergil, hands down, is my new go-to character. He's faster than Dante and has fantastic range, mix-ups, and off-the-ground abilities. First off his forward strong attack's range takes up almost half the screen. This move followed by a launcher leads to surprisingly fast air combo beat downs. Vergil's teleport is also extremely useful for mixing up opponents with its frontal, behind, and over the head positioning. There is one super that has him emit swords around his body (similar to Strider's discs) and when paired with the behind teleport it can lead to a very lethal cross-up combination.
Now Phoenix Wright on the other hand is a favorite only for how insane his move set is. He's basically useless until he gathers enough evidence during a match. As you search for three successful clues -- denoted with a bright yellow folder -- his attacks are almost nonexistent. Once gathered pressing down-down-special launches Phoenix into courtroom mode. From here, hitting your opponent with an objection turns the clumsy lawyer into a beast -- albeit for a limited time. His giant finger attack can easily juggle opponents in the corner and he can also shoot off different beam attacks with his collected evidence. And if you can land a level three super, which does a ludicrous 6,00 points of damage, kiss your foe goodbye.
Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3 is just two weeks away and I for one am getting pretty excited. I know some may feel burnt that Capcom is updating this game already. But at a measly $40, the 12 new characters, Galactus mode, and post launch free Heroes and Heralds mode -- which is bringing over a hundred cameo characters with new art -- should offer fans plenty of worthy action. Now if only this wasn't a supposed Capcom troll.

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